Acumen in Action
(Class formerly titled Building Value and Driving Profits)
In this fast-paced course you make decisions based on your understanding of how your business makes money, connect your decision with results and help those around you to perform more effectively. Improve your skills to make effective, high-impact decisions and make a more significant contribution to your organization’s financial success. This program will show you how to:
- Think and act like the owner
- Take action to improve profits and deliver value to your organization
- Incorporate key performance indicators important to your customers, owners and employees
- Lead your team in implementing your company’s strategies
- Create a customer centric awareness with your group—and act on it
- Evaluate the impact of pricing your products on customer groups, sales and profitability
- Coordinate the multiple internal and external demands on time and resources
You run the business: accelerate five “years” of experience into three powerful days
It’s time for you to run the business…and “Acumen in Action” lets you do just that. In just three days, you’ll gain five “years” of on-the-job experience through exploring “what if” scenarios and considering a variety of solutions to capitalize on opportunities. Best of all, you’ll learn from your mistakes without suffering real-life consequences thanks to the use of Capstone®, the best-selling business simulation in the world.
In the spirit of friendly competition, you and your management team—made up of you and others savvy enough to join you for this exceptional experience—take control of a $100 million company in a business environment that becomes increasing complex throughout the simulation. You own, direct and have responsibility for established products, and it is your job to build value in your organization in order to optimize profits across your product lines.
“This may be the most dynamic learning environment you will have experienced to date. I use static case studies regularly, and they are very effective in illustrating an approach or concept. But only through a computer-based simulation used in an environment such as Building Value and Driving Profits will your decisions become actions, the results of which will require your additional analysis and decisions in a realistic business environment. Throughout the course, I will coach, counsel and help you integrate new tools and techniques to help in your navigation through these processes.”
Chuck Krueger
“I’m a finance guy so I see things in that light…but ‘Building Value and Driving Profits’ really opened my eyes to a different way of looking at things. The team-building and decision-making parts of the course are a good way for companies to get a broad perspective and realize how each of their decisions affects different parts of the company – this is a great course to bring your whole team to. The small class size allowed plenty of interpersonal interaction – I received one-on-one instruction from two impressive instructors, and felt I was fully able to participate in the interactive Capstone portion of the course.
The Fluno Center was a deciding factor when I chose the University of Wisconsin-Madison Executive Education for my class – it was convenient to have the course, meals, lodging and parking all in one spot. The food alone was fantastic, and including it in the course fee saves you a ton of out-of-pocket money…and the hassle of the expense report afterward.
All in all, this course was terrific: the subject matter and outline encompassed a lot of different sides of a company, the instructors were very personable and knowledgeable, and the venue is top notch. I got it all for a very affordable price, and will definitely be back – I made out like a thief!”
Adam Smith, Assistant Controller, Jofco, Jasper, IN
“It was an eye-opener. Making decisions and then running them through the simulation was excellent. [All] the teams shared the reasons they made their decisions and then we got immediate feedback. Chuck related a lot of real-life situations that tied the lessons in to what we were learning. Our company is still using what we learned.”
Brian Reetz, Executive Engineer, Strattec Security Corp., Milwaukee, WI
“The best learning experience I have ever had! Phenomenal. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Scott Johnson, Director of Implementation, ADP, Hoffman Estates, IL
“This seminar was extremely valuable. It was the most demanding seminar I have ever been to, because I really had to work [hard]. It teaches good decision-making skills. I immediately put [the information I learned] to use back in the office.”
Brian Schmidt, Assistant Controller, Kalmbach Publishing Company, Waukesha, WI
“Superior, practical, hands-on experience making real-life management decisions. I would recommend this course for any operations manager who makes financial decisions.”
Steven Hesseling, director, plant operations, Anchor Food Products
“This course was jam-packed with useful information that I look forward to putting into practice.”
Keith Pignolet, Vice president sales, Wildeck, Waukesha, WI
The University of Wisconsin–Madison, as a member of the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), authorizes this course for 2.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or 20 hours.
gsrenaski@exed.wisc.edu